Charge It

Again, we have a little bit of a slower week for new releases and music (besides the highly anticipated Rebecca Black single lol). This week’s featured release in the thrilling film Limitless starring one of our favorite hotties and Bradley Cooper and Academy Award winner Robert De Niro.

Bradley Cooper and two-time Academy-Award® winner Robert De Niro, star in this provocative and action-packed thriller with unlimited surprising twists. Eddie Morra (Cooper), a burnt-out writer, discovers a top-secret pill that unlocks 100% of his brain’s capacity. He instantly acquires mind-bending talents and mesmerizing visions that bring him big money, beautiful women and limitless success. But his dream life soon becomes a waking nightmare, as the drug’s brutal side effects take their toll and Eddie finds himself entangled with a cunning Wall Street power broker (DeNiro) who wants everything Eddie has… and more.

The special features on the blu-ray and DVD seem just as limitless. You can check out a theatrical feature, watch the unrated extended cut, enjoy the film with audio commentary (if that’s your thing), watch the featurette “A Man Without Limits” or change it all up with an alternate ending. Definitely worth the purchase or rent for sure.

Taylor Swift is the next music star to join the wave of celebrities endorsing their own fragrance. She recently announced that she would be releasing her own perfume called Wonderstruck this coming October. If your a fan of Swift, you may recognize the title of the scent. It’s from a line in her song Enchanted. The line goes, “I’m wonderstruck, blushing all the way home.” That basically sums up the concept for the creation of the fragrance Taylor explains.

“A fragrance can help shape someone’s first impression and memory of you,” Swift says in a press release. “It’s exciting to think that Wonderstruck will play a role in creating some of those memories.”

The perfume should be pretty sweet and fresh with quite the array of notes. It’s being described as the “flawless beauty of freesia, apple blossom and raspberry” with “a sweet surprise of blissful vanilla … airy, sun-drenched honeysuckle and white hibiscus … golden amber and sandalwood … with lush peach.”

Last week, I skipped out on my weekly New Releases post as there weren’t any to report due to the Canada Day and the Fourth of July long weekends. This week, there are so many new releases to bring you, it was hard to pick only a few to feature. This week’s main feature is the thrilling drama The Lincoln Lawyer which features the acting styles of Matthew McConaughey and Melissa Tomei with a dash of the sexy Ryan Phillipe thrown in. Check out the plot synopsis below:

In the gripping thriller “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Matthew McConaughey stars as Michael “Mick” Haller, a slick, charismatic Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who operates out of the back of his Lincoln Continental sedan. Having spent most of his career defending petty, gutter- variety criminals, Mick unexpectedly lands the case of a lifetime: defending a rich Beverly Hills playboy (Ryan Phillippe) who is accused of attempted murder. However, what initially appears to be a straightforward case with a big money pay-off swiftly develops into a deadly match between two masters of manipulation and a crisis of conscience for Haller.

Special features on the disc include a featurette focused on the making of the film, a featurette at home and on the road with Mike Connelly, a one-on-one with Matthew and Mike and deleted scenes. This film has an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars so I definitely recommend checking it out by purchasing it or renting on iTunes or Netflix.

I know I know, you can’t just switch up bevvies! But hey! It’s summer. Almost. Still.

As much as I want a cold glass of Gruner (a who glass of huh now?) as much as the next person when the sun comes out, I can’t deny my love for a big frothy one sometimes. Trust me, I’m a wine addict, but nothing makes you feel truly refreshed (even though it’s truly dehydrating you), like beer. And there’s so many varieties of summer beers, that’s kind of the beauty. Beers are so seasonal. And this year especially I’ve seen a huge influx of randomly flavoured beers from a lot of different microbreweries.

Top of my list this year is wheat beer (white beer/weissbier/hefeweizen) by far. You may be thinking, “duh Nic, wheat beer during summer, GROUNDbreaking”, but it’s taken me a really long time to get passionate about them, mostly because I’m a dark beer drinker at heart. All of a sudden BAM an entire world opened up to me and I saw the unceliac friendly light, felt like I was part of the club.

This week is full of great new releases to stimulate the ears and the eyes. In movies, Vanessa Hudgens takes over our DVD collection in an action thriller and a romantic drama. In music, two country legends come out with new albums while a Disney princess releases her third album and an American Idol winner shows us what he’s made of.

This week’s featured new release is none other than Ms. Beyoncé and her new release 4. Although her first single Run The World may not have performed very well, but the performance of 1+1 on American Idol had people turned on their ear in anticipation for the full length album. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek and here’s what I have to say.

Some of the songs on the album may not be radio friendly or commercial but there is no denying that Beyoncé is a true artist and an absolute musical genius. Lyrically, the album is creative and the musicality is inventive and creative. Just when you think you have a song figured out, something different happens. I highly recommend checking out End of Time, Countdown and Best Thing I Never Had; all three are my absolute favorites.

Is this a coincidence that Lady Gaga has been dressed up in vintage Versace in her Edge of Glory video and at her appearance at the MMVA’s? I was totally wondering… is Versace back in? The gaudy prints, the straps and golden buckles. I’m kind of interested at what this collection for H&M will look like.

The VERSACE for H&M! collection will be available from November 17th 2011, in some 300 stores around the world, as well as on-line. This glamorous rock’n roll collection will include iconic Versace pieces for both women and men, in gold, leather and colorful prints. There will be some belts, jewelry and even a few Home cushions and bed linen.

What are the benefits of this new “Polymer Notes“? I could think of one thing off the bat, they won’t disintegrate when you run your money through the wash (I’m not talking about money laundering) specially if you’ve left them in your pant pockets. I’ve done this a few times and the money tends to fall apart specially if it’s a particularly old note.

Secure: Their leading-edge security features are easy to verify and hard to counterfeit

Durable: They last at least 2.5 times longer than paper notes, reducing processing and replacement costs and environmental impact

Innovative: The detailed metallic imagery carried in a transparent area of the notes makes for one-of-a-kind currency

Easy to Handle: The new notes feel different from paper notes, but are just as simple to use

Check out the video which explains it’s security features and design on the next part of the post.

If some of you don’t already know, I am a huge Pitbull fan. His infectious club beats and clever lyrical innuendo have made me a fan for many years. I have been highly anticipating this album for a while now ever since the release of presumed track for the album Alright hit the web. But, when he teamed up with T-Pain for the smash Drop It To The Floor, I knew the entire album would be a hit. Check out the track list for the album below.